There It Is
by Ali-Chan1
Summary: She was still the girl he wanted to marry. The girl he saw himself with ten, twenty, thirty years down the road.  And with the way she was handing back the ring he had given her he still wasn't the one for her.


There It Is

"Do you know how sick it is that we spent the entire day in there pretending to still be together." Victorie has her arms wrapped around herself, if she's cold or upset Teddy doesn't know. "My mother and grandmother spent the entire time while we made dinner grilling about if we'd set a wedding date or not."

Even though they are several feet from the front door and the light has begun fading quickly Teddy can still make out the tears in her always startlingly clear blue eyes. Even without her tears, even without entire fault in the matter Teddy feels horrible for putting her through this. Not that he was really putting her through this, they'd come to the mutual decision (more then likely their last mutual decision) that now wasn't the time to tell their family of their broken engagement. They're relationship had ended a couple of weeks before and together they'd decided to wait to tell everyone, they didn't want to cause drama for Christmas. Teddy hadn't seen her since, he'd made sure to clear out when she came by their shared flat to get her things.

"Vic, I'm so sorry, I really am. I know that had to have been difficult for you."A large part of Teddy, the part that was still really angry about the break up, wanted to make sure she realized that she carried the blame for this. Her certainly didn't want to be the one standing in the freezing cold apologizing for something she had caused.

He had been in love with her for her entire life. She had been his first playmate, the only one near him enough in age to hold his attention. Even when they were in school and he had plenty of other people to hold his attention she had always been his best friend. It wasn't until she was going into her fourth year and he was in his fifth that he'd even realize she was a girl. The realization that she was had hit him hard, but not nearly as hard as the fact that she was beautiful. With her long pale, nearly blonde, red hair and the blue eyes that betrayed all of her emotions Teddy had never been able to see any of the other girls.

The sad part about it was that even though, when she had declared to him that she didn't wan to get married, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was still the girl he wanted to marry. The girl he saw himself with ten, twenty, thirty years down the road. Like Molly and Arthur Weasley with all of their children and grandchildren around them. And with the way she was handing back the ring he had given her he still wasn't the one for her.

"Maybe we should have just told them tonight," it was easy for him to say this now when all was said and done, standing outside of the house ready to go their separate ways. He wasn't sure how he would look any of them in the eye and tell them that they weren't together, especially when he was still holding onto the hope that she would change her mind.

Victorie clears her throat but when she begins speaking again her voice is still husky with held back tears, "I was thinking that I would probably just tell my Mum in the morning. You know how the gossip spreads in this family, everyone will know by dinner time and it will all just be over with."

"Easier yeah," the words come out automatically and he's sure that must be obvious even to her that he doesn't actually mean them. "Saves the drama." That was something he could get behind, he'd had enough drama in the last couple of weeks, he didn't need to add anymore.

"Anyway, I should go, everyone should know before the New Years Eve party at Aunt Ginny's. That way it's not so...you know..awkward..."

Teddy finds himself nodding along but really he didn't agree. The day hadn't ever felt awkward, it had all felt natural, normal, but he's wondering if she's expecting to say that he'll skip the party. This was the awkward part, the part they had worried about in the beginning of their relationship, if it wasn't going to work out they shared the same family. There would be numerous occasions where they'd no longer be together but they'd be forced into the same crazy, crowded house for a random holiday or birthday or just a family meal.

He's not going to back out of the party, and he knows she'll be forced to go as well even so there's a good chance this is the last time they'll have to speak openly and there's just one more thing he has to get off of his chest. Something he had to make sure she understood, "I would have waited, just so you know. When I asked you marry me in October I didn't mean we had to get married straight away, I would have waited for you for as long as it took."

"I know," Victorie's voice is barely above a whisper. He'd promised her forever when he'd slipped his mother's engagement ring onto her finger. The look on her face betrays her thoughts and Teddy knows that she is remember the moment as well. "It was never about waiting."

"Well, what then?" For the first time since she had told him she didn't want to be with him Teddy raises his voice. He'd tried to stay calm and talk to her reasonably, to understand why she had gone from planning their wedding to calling everything off, but he was tired of not getting answers. "What is it? That you don't mind getting married, just not to me. I just don't understand. Are you seeing someone else?"

"No! Of course not," Victorie shrieks taking an almost threatening step toward him. "I can't believe you would ever accuse me of that."

"You're not giving me anything to go off of," Teddy had always been told that he takes after his father. He stayed calm in situations that usually would have caused another person to break a lot sooner but he's felt all of that calm leave his body as he finds himself practically screaming at the girl he was in love with. "It's all fine and well that you're going to tell your mum that we're not getting married. You're probably right, by this time tomorrow night the entire damn family is going to know that aren't together. Well, that's just bloody fantastic. Will they all know why? Because maybe I can check with Lily and Albus and see where our relationship failed, because I bloody hell don't know."

The way Victorie's tear filled eyes dart between his face and just over his shoulder alert Teddy to the fact that they've acquired an audience somewhere in the middle of his speech. He half turns to face the entire family, who look like they're all getting ready to leave for the evening, standing on the front porch. All wear expression of guilt and a mix of shock and confusion. "Maybe, we should, you know," Molly gestures over her shoulder back into the warmth of the house the rest of her sentence fading.

The family instantly reacts, scrambling to move back inside to avoid they fight they'd stumbled onto. "No wait," Teddy calls after them, a part of him felt bad that they'd all caught them in this moment but he's already on a roll and can't help the rest of the words that spill out of his mouth. "Victorie and I aren't together anymore, we haven't been for about two weeks." Over the noise of their shock Teddy continues, "we didn't want to bum anyone out for Christmas, but there there it is."

There it is hung in the winter air. It sounded simple, Teddy's voice even sounds more like usual, calm, cool and collected. If only it was that easy. He hoped it would getting easier because whether he had the answers or not they weren't getting married and maybe she hadn't loved him. Maybe he would never know and he would have to deal with that.

"I'm sorry for keeping you all, I know it's late." He doesn't wait around to hear anyone's responses. He'd wanted one answer tonight and he hadn't gotten it so he'd leave her to deal with the prying questions. She'd broken his heart, he at least deserved to be the one that left this time.

**a.n. Hey guys! Some of you may have read this and been like, wtf, I totally read this before! And it's true, I'm just consolidating two of my counts into one (and yes to pad my total fics posted into one so I increase my chances of hitting 100 on the 23****rd****.) If you're worried that I stole it you can check the old profile, I've taken the fic down but have updated letting everyone know it's kosher. Great thanks to my lovely new beta **pinkrose14 **thanks a ton! Read review and remember, 1 more down 8 more to go 7 days to do it in. Eep.**


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